South Asian university graduations draw crowds, stir controversy

The University of the Southeast in Sri Lanka held its 18th convocation, awarding degrees to 3,398 graduates from six faculties across nine sessions in a ceremony attended by regional officials, including the provincial governor and former vice‑chancellor.

In Tamil Nadu, India, the 33rd convocation of Mano Maniyam Sundaranar University scheduled the national anthem, the Indian national song, and then the Tamil song "Tamilthai Vaazhthu" as the third piece. The ordering provoked sharp criticism from the state’s Marxist Communist Party, whose state secretary B. Sanmugam said, “It is not appropriate to push the state song to a later position,” and called for the governor’s directive to be withdrawn.